Burial Place of Zachary Taylor - Louisville, KY

At the time of President Zachary Taylor's death 1850, he was temporarily buried in Washington DC. A few months later, his body was moved here to the family cemetery near Louisville which was then part of the ground's for their home, Springfield. In the 1920's, the cemetery was enlarged, becoming a National Cemetery, and the presidents remains were moved a few feet to this mausoleum in 1926. it has a limestone exterior with a granite base with a marble interior. The entire cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1991, this place made the news as the body was exhumed to see if he had been poisoned.

Centerville Methodist Church

Tates Crossing, TN Flag Station

This train flag station was in use at Tates Crossing near Mt. Juliet from 1870 until 1935. During these 65 years it was used by Tennessee and Pacific Railroad and then by NCStL. This flag station was closed when NCStL built newer tracks that went a farther distance. (The older tracks were removed and the railroad bed became Division Street and Old Railroad Bed Road.

Nearly 6 decades after it wasn't used anymore, the owner gave it to the western Wilson County Historical society, where it was restored. A few years later it was donated to be part of Fiddler's Grove, a collection of historical buildings from around the county placed at the Wilson County Fairgrounds.

Cannon County Jail - Woodbury, TN

The original part of the jail was built in 1880 and consists of the part made of stone and the second story above it. In 1975, the area on the right was added which is the sheriff's office and living quarters. At that time, the old part was painted white and the right part was unpainted red brick. Since then, a new jail has opened a quarter mile away from this one along the town square.

Carnegie Library - Harriman, TN

"For the good of all."
This library was built in 1909. It still has it's 100th Anniversary banner hung above the main entrance. Today, the building also serves as the town's visitor's center. This building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Roane Street Commercial Historic District.

Bank of Centertown

This 1919 building was located at the big intersection in the tiny town of Centertown in western Warren County. TN287 is the north-south highway and US70S (formerly, TN1 and the Memphis-Bristol Highway) is the east-west route. On the side is a faded and/or painted over wall ad for a tree nursery - Warren County is known as climatically the best place in the country to grow trees. All that's left of the ad is "Specializing in White Pines"

Other than that, I can't find much info on the place. Googling it, I found where someone made an acrylic painting:
southernpleinairpainters.blogspot.com/2007/06/bank-of-cen...

Stringers Ridge Tunnel - Chattanooga

This tunnel north of downtown Chattanooga carries TN 8 through the ridge, but used to carry US27.

Captain William Stringer owned the land here and built his cabin at the top of the ridge. A steep paved wagon road crossed the road, most of the road is still around but not drive-able. in the early 20th century, the city stopped at this point and the other side was wilderness. In 1908, Judge Wilder designated the tunnel should be built here, which was finished in 1911. The property on the other side became more valuable, causing more property tax revenue to be brought it to pay for the building of the tunnel.

This view has changed a little around 2008. The ridge above the entrance went much higher than it does now, as recent plans flattened this area for future development.

William Jennings Bryan Statue - Dayton, TN

Located in front of the Rhea County Courthouse, where many decades earlier, just before his death, the former Democratic Presidential Nominee orated and argued for the prosecution in the Scopes Monkey Trial. In case you were wondering, there's no such love for Clarence Darrow in Dayton.

The Statue was placed here in 2005 by Bryan College for their 75th anniversary, honoring their namesake. Sculptor Cessna Decosimo added a couple of touches to this statue. For instance, Bryan's right hand is ready to greet people while his left hand is resting on a lectern. Inscribed on the front of the lectern is "Truth and Eloquence 1891." 1891 was the year Bryan was first in congress and the courthouse was built.

Decherd, TN Seventh Day Adventist Church

Lynnville, TN Depot Museum, Locomotive & Wigwag

Lynnville is a small town in Giles County where L&N operated a Passenger depot. That depot was torn down when passenger service stopped in town. However, a few decades later, a new replica was built to be operated as a museum. Wigwags are tough to find these days and this is the only one I think I have seen in Tennessee.

The highlighted locomotive at the museum is a 1927 Prairie type 2-6-2 Baldwin Steam Locomotive. It hauled freight for the St. Louis & O'Fallon railroad at first and was retired after 37 years in use. in 1997, the museum acquired it.

Other trains cars at the museum include a 1923 Pullman Passenger Coach (which inside has a sub-museum honoring nearby Milky Way Farms), a 1950 wood deck flat car, and a 1971 caboose. To see all of the Lynnville Depot Museum pictures, Click here.

Dickson Co. Courthouse - Charlotte, TN

The Dickson County Courthouse in Charlotte, TN is the oldest courthouse in the state still in use, built in 1830. (The Hawkins Co. Courthouse in Rogersville also makes this claim citing how this courthouse has been changed and expanded while theirs hasn't, albeit not quite as old.)

This mural depicts the way the courthouse looked back then, with some noticeable changes from today. Wings were added on both sides in 1931. The chimneys were removed and the roof, and shutters and dome on the tower are now white instead of red.

If you can see the gutter downspouts in the photo, that's about how wide the original part of the courthouse is. (It's actually the area where the bricks are a bit more pronounced, if you can see it.) When the additions are added, they couldn't find brick that matched the color of the original, so they added a layer of brick over the original layer.

The city of Dickson is much larger than Charlotte, and there's been attempts over the years to get the county seat moved to the bigger city, yet it has remained here all those years. (There is a Gov't Office building on Main St. in Dickson. There's also a

Oldham Theater - Winchester, TN

The Oldham Theater is a great looking old-fashioned small town square theater with well-preserved marquee and neon, still living up to it's 1950's grandeur.

The Rock Church / Trail of Tears Interpretive Center - Pulaski, TN

In 1941 in Pulaski, TN this chapel of Gothic architectural design was built as the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Worship services stopped in 1984, when the Rock Church was sold to adjacent First Baptist Church.

As two separate branches of the Trail of Tears passed through Giles County, plans were made to create a memorial center. In 2002, the Baptist church donated the building to be the Interpretive Center. Later that year, the building was relocated three blocks away to its present location via a large trailer. The large area in front of the center is a giant map of the area tracing the Trail of Tears.

For more info about the center, www.trailoftearspulaski.com/index2.html

Elk River Falls - Near the TN & NC border

Elk Falls is an impressive waterfall in Avery County, North Carolina, about a stones throw from Tennessee. In fact, it's so close to the Tennessee border that I first heard of it when it was included in the Waterfalls of Tennessee book by Gregory Plumb. Quite a volume of water plunges 45 feet into the plunge pool below.

Getting there is rather easy: Take U.S. Highway 19E to Elk Park, NC. Follow the signs to Elk River Rd and then drive about 4 miles to the entrance of Pisgah National Forest. The road ends at a small parking lot, and from there it's about a 5 minute walk along a well developed trail to this vantage point.

Waterfalls do contain an element of risk, and several people have died here over the years, including a man in 2010 who either jumped off or fell off the top, plus another teen in 2007. The pool below is quite deep and apparently there is a strong current to pull under there.

Wilhoite Mill 1902 Wheel

Located along the Duck River in Marshall County was the site of three mills over the years. This wheel was part of the 1902 mill constructed on higher ground after the original was destroyed by a flood. A belt attached to the wheel transferred power from the turbines below to the mill building. A passage for the belt was trenched through the limestone and can still be seen in the area.

Wilhoite was a community that was built up around the area of the mills. Today, all that remains are the building blocks of some of those buildings plus a few pieces of the mills. A trail has been built to access these places. This area is adjacent to and across the river from the main part of Henry Horton State Park along highway US31A.

St. Matthew's Episcopal Church - Covington, TN

The cornerstone of this church building was laid in 1858 and all of the yellow poplar and red gum lumber was cut by hand.

Bishop Charles Quintard was in Britain when extensive renovations were undertaken at Canterbury Cathedral. There, three stained glass windows about three hundred years old were discarded, which he acquired. The were then shipped on a six month journey by sea across the ocean and then up the Mississippi River to the nearby town of Randolph. The windows were then installed here in the chancel where they remain a treasured possession to this day.

The church was built in a Gothic Architecture style and was designed by J.J. Malone and William P. Malone. Today, the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Scott Fitzhugh Bridge - Paris Landing, TN

The Scott Fitzhugh Bridge was built in 1927 to cross the Tennessee River (aka Kentucky Lake) at Paris Landing. when the bridge became Structurally Deficient, it was replaced in 1992 by the Ned McWherter Bridge. Thankfully, TDOT didn't feel the need to totally demolish the main span and it was converted to this pavilion at Paris Landing with the river in the background.

When this bridge was in use, it carried highway US79 (TN76) over the river and connected Henry and Stewart County. It was a Warren (Camelback) Through truss with a total length of 4,734 ft. You can see some vintage photos HERE at the Library of Congress website for the Historic American Engineering Record. Scott Fitzhugh was a former state Speaker of the House from Paris and the old road sign with his name was preserved along with this span.

Old Grayson County Courthouse - Oldtown, VA

According to Wikipedia:
The Old Grayson County Courthouse is a historic county courthouse located near Galax in Grayson County, VA. The Old Grayson County Courthouse was built in 1834, and consists of a two-story central block with flanking two-story wings and a one-story addition on the rear north side which was built in the 1870s and expanded in 1988. In 1850 the county seat moved to its present location in Independence, and the courthouse was subsequently used as a private residence, as a hotel, an apartment house, and a hay barn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

This "Old Town" is a rather rural place except for a block with a few houses on it. It's just a couple of miles outside of Galax and located on Greenville Rd.

For a thorough description of this building, here is the listing on the NRHP:
www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Grayson/038-0004_...
The Old Grayson County Courthouse is an unusual antebellum courthouse design because it resembles a residence more than a public building. Constructed by master builder, James Toncray, the premier builder of courthouses of this period in Southwest Virginia.